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<DIV>In a lot of cases I find that even more important than adding clauses
(though such clauses are fail safes), good communication and dialogue with
the client is fundamental to avoiding future misunderstandings. The client is
usually frustrated by a block of some sort, and has tunnel vision, and a low
patience threshold. He/she wants the answer by the shortest route,
meanwhile forgetting that sometimes even after years of their own effort they
couldn't get it themselves. But professionals are supposed to have a magic
wand that breaks down that door with a couple of clicks of a mouse. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>I spend more upfront time talking to the client (often actually "talking"
to the client by phone), or using a Chat. It not only opens up the
client's realizations about how and why I'm going to approach the research, it
establishes a personal relationship of sorts, a precedent for future more
amiable contact. If I find the client is stubborn, demanding, and has
unrealistic expectations then it often emerges in these conversations and I turn
down the commission</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Larry</DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="FONT: 10pt arial; BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=mjnrootdig@gmail.com href="mailto:mjnrootdig@gmail.com">Michael John
Neill</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A title=Elissa@powellgenealogy.com
href="mailto:Elissa@powellgenealogy.com">Elissa Scalise Powell, CG</A> ; <A
title=apgpubliclist@apgen.org href="mailto:apgpubliclist@apgen.org">APG APG
Public</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Cc:</B> <A title=IsraelP@pikholz.org
href="mailto:IsraelP@pikholz.org">IsraelP@pikholz.org</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Thursday, July 22, 2010 9:31
AM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: [APG Public List] Repeating
client's work</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>You might even wish to consider putting "please initial here"
by specific sections of the contract to indicate that they have actually been
read. It is still no guarantee, but would add one level of "you knew that
because you initialed that specific clause of the contract." I've signed
contracts where specific sections had to be initialed to acknowledge the
content of those specific sections. <BR><BR>Michael<BR><BR><BR>
<DIV class=gmail_quote>On Thu, Jul 22, 2010 at 8:14 AM, Elissa Scalise Powell,
CG <SPAN dir=ltr><<A
href="mailto:Elissa@powellgenealogy.com">Elissa@powellgenealogy.com</A>></SPAN>
wrote:<BR>
<BLOCKQUOTE
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class=gmail_quote>I like Michael's advice on what to put in a contract to
prevent such<BR>questions. In this case, now that the horse is out of the
barn, you could<BR>tell her that not only did she not provide it but you
needed to examine it<BR>to correlate the data with other evidence you found.
She is not just paying<BR>you to find records but to analyze them as a whole
in the context of each<BR>other and the historical times her ancestor lived
in.<BR><BR>If she wants to micro-manage the project, then it may be
beneficial if she<BR>pays you for a research plan she can act on. She may
quickly come back to<BR>you and have you conduct the research once she has
tried it.<BR><BR>Best wishes,<BR>Elissa<BR><FONT color=#888888><BR>Elissa
Scalise Powell, CG<BR><A href="http://www.PowellGenealogy.com"
target=_blank>www.PowellGenealogy.com</A><BR>CG and Certified Genealogist
are Service Marks of the Board for<BR>Certification of Genealogists, used
under license by board certificants<BR>after periodic evaluations by the
Board.<BR></FONT>
<DIV>
<DIV></DIV>
<DIV class=h5><BR>> -----Original Message-----<BR>> From: On Behalf Of
Israel P<BR>> Sent: Thursday, July 22, 2010 4:15 AM<BR>><BR>> What
do you folks do when - after asking client the three basic questions<BR>>
what do you know, what do you want to learn and what resources have
you<BR>> already checked - client then says "Why did you spend two hours
on such<BR>> and such? I already looked at that."<BR>><BR>>
She didn't include that resource in answering the third basic
question,<BR>> so as far as I knew, this was a new investigation.
(Let's ignore that I<BR>> might have found something that client
herself missed.)<BR>><BR>> Do you have to tell client in advance
exactly what resources you are<BR>> planning to investigate? That
can get awfully cumbersome - next thing<BR>> she'll want to know exactly
how many units of fifteen minutes will be<BR>> spent on each
resource!<BR>><BR>> I mean you can hardly just say "Tough luck.
I asked what you had done<BR>> yourself and you didn't mention this
resource."<BR>><BR>> Israel Pickholtz<BR>>
Jerusalem<BR>><BR><BR><BR><BR></DIV></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE></DIV><BR><BR
clear=all><BR>-- <BR>------------------------------------<BR>Michael John
Neill<BR>Casefile Clues-Genealogy How-Tos<BR><A
href="http://www.casefileclues.com">http://www.casefileclues.com</A><BR></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>